Monday, January 2, 2017

A friend passes away in a far off land

We had many foreign students studying in various departments during my days at the Film Institute (1968-71). They were mostly from Afghanistan, Africa, Singapore and from neighbouring countries Nepal, Bhutan, Ceylon etc.Each course had quota for two Foreign students and were mostly filled up. In our Cinematography class were Prem Kumar Upadhyaya from Nepal and Naapo Gbande from Ghana. Since Prem knew Hindi very well, we never felt he was a foreigner. Naapo was the most silent one who always spoke in a soft voice.Though he was much older than many of us, he looked young , tall and trim with a thin figure. Away from home he was a little bit homesick and always had a worried look. In due course we all became friends and he became happy and concentrated in his studies.

As a model in Lighting exercise

We used to have Lighting exercises in our Still Photography classes and we ourselves used to stand in as Model for each others practicals. Also we worked as a three member unit for our cinematography exercises etc. Remember the photo, I published many years back in this Blog which was the main reason for me to write this Blog on my Institute days. The person pushing the dolly is Naapo Gbande and I am there holding the reflector while Jaya Bhaduri faces the camera handled by Mr.Edwards.

Camera Practicals - Naapo pushing the Dolly

During the strike at the Film Institute, all foreign students supported me and stood by me at all times. In fact Naapo and David Ankora ( Sound Engineering) were always beside me to protect me from any intended attack by the Acting students.

David, me and Naapo

When it was time to leave the Institute a whole lot of my foreign friends turned up at the railway station to see me off. Almost half of my friends in the photograph are from far off lands.

Send off at Poona Railway station

We parted ways....immersed in our life and work we could not communicate with them later on. Meanwhile my batch mates Ramlal Agarwal and Debu Deodhar passed away some years back. Last month in the International Film Festival of Kerala held at Thiruvananthapuram there were some films from Ghana. I wanted to meet those film makers to inquire about my old friends Naapo and David. But somehow I missed meeting them. I thought of using the Internet to start searching for Naapo and I came to know of the sad news that he passed away on October 17 th 2015.

Naapo in Ghana

Given below is an obituary written by Kouame
Koulibaly :

A great cinematographer is gone

The film
industry in Ghana lost one of its extremely brilliant cinematographers when Mr
Naapo Gbandedied on October 17,
2015at the 37 Military Hospital in
Accra. He was 76.

Mr
Gbande worked for several years with the defunct Ghana Film Industry Corporation
(GFIC) where he shot numerous newsreels, documentaries and feature films.

He later
moved on to the National Film and TelevisionInstitute (NAFTI) as a lecturer and many of the current professional
cinematographers in this country passed through his hands.

The
soft-spoken Mr Gbande worked as the cinematographer on several projects with
veteran film director, Mr Kwaw Ansah, who described him as an extremely
creative and diligent collaborator.

“I
worked with him on Harvest At 17, Love Brewed In The African Pot, Heritage
Africa and several television commercials.

“He
always tried to get images that truly complemented the essence of whatever was
being shot. His work brought true meaningto the functions of a DOPon a
film set,” Mr Ansah said.

A native
of Kpandai in the Northern Region, Mr Gbande realised early in life that
photographywas his calling and he
diligently pursued it throughout his working life. Mr
Gbande was trained in film photography at the Film and Television Institute of
India at Pune in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Experienced
lighting technician, Mr Tetteh ‘Wrally’ Apain,worked with Mr Gbande on numerous productions and they remained close
friends.

“I
enjoyed being on a set with him because he always knew what he was about. He
truly understood what photography was about and every lighting technician
cherished his presence during productions,” Mr Apain said about his late
friend.

Apart
from his teaching and practical work, MrGbande was also a facilitator at several cinema workshopsin this country and abroad and he published
practical guides on lighting and camera movement.

Thelate cinematographer will be buried on
Saturday, November 14, 2015 at the Madina Cemetery in Accra.He will be sorely missed by the film making
fraternity.

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About Me

Born in1947, at Maduranthakam,
Tamil Nadu, INDIA,
Ramachandra Babu graduated from the Film Institute of India, in 1971. He
started his career as Cinematographer with the film VIDYARTHIKALEYITHILEY
(1972) and had done more than125Feature films as Director of Photography in
Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Arabic and English Languages. Four times Award
Winner of Kerala State Film Awards for Excellence in Cinematography, he had
also won many more Awards like –Rangam Award, Nana award, Film Fans Award, Film
Critics award, Lux – Asianet Film Award etc for Excellence in Cinematography.

He had been associatedas Cinematographer of many nationally and
Internationally renowned Film Directors such as John
Abraham, Ramu
Kariat, Bharathan, K.G.
George, M.T.Vasudevan
Nair, P.N.Menon, I.V.
Sasi, Sethu
Madhavan, Sasi
Kumar, Hariharan, Mohan, Mani Rathnam
etc.He paints in water colours and writes poems in English in his spare time.

Being a Poet, he is also the
inventor and creator of the new Genre of short film CINEKU, a unique
combination of Cinema and Haiku Poems. He lives in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India,
with his wife and two sons. Besides being connected with several Film Associations,
he is also the Founder President of INDIAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS (www.iscindia.in)